First player to first reach 30,000 and 50,000 points will win 10 keys each

Two server-starting players on #04 eligible to win metal or hats each day

Three server-starting players on #04 also eligible to win a key each week.

HLStats reset June 1st

LMAOBOX hack users successfully banned by VAC

Plenty of Newbs are playing the Overwatch beta

Terraria patch 1.3.1 is now live

Steam Summer Sale 2016 runs from June 23rd to July 4th

1. TF2Newbs’ 2Fort Contest Starts June 1st

TF2Newbs’ six 24/7 2Fort servers (#01, #04, #05, #09, #19, #21) are hosting a series of contests during the month of June, with monthly, weekly, and daily prizes! See the forum post for questions and more information.

The first player to reach a total of 50,000 points will also win 10 keys! (The player who wins the 30k prize is ineligible for the 50k prize.)

Note: These rewards are measured by HLStats’ points system, not the TF2 client points. Follow this link to see how points are awarded.

Longest Playtime Award

The player who has been actively playing for the most time on TF2Newbs’ 24/7 2Fort servers while HLStats is enabled (that is, a minimum of 4 players) for the entire month of June will win an unusual hat! The hat to be won will be announced at a later date.

Weekly Achievement Contests

Each week, three additional stats contests will be announced for achievements, such as Headshot Kills, Amputator Kills, or Buildings Destroyed. A little bit like a week-long Contract, the person with the highest number of points scored for that goal during the week will win. One Mann Co. Key will be awarded to each other the three winners (maximum one key per player, per week).

Note that this contest counts all credit across all five TF2Newbs servers for the entire week. “Weeks” in this case start from Mondays at midnight PDT through the next Monday at midnight PDT.

#04 Server Starter Awards

Server #04 will feature daily prizes awarded to random players who jump in to the server whenever an “server starting” announcement is made.

Once the server start announcement is made, the next time the server maintains at least 8 vs. 8 players for several minutes (not counting spectators), then admin {N} Wife will note a list of players credit with helping that day. Anyone in Spectate at the time the list is generated will be disqualified from the list of eligible players for this award that day.

From that list, two random winners will be chosen. The prizes on weekdays are one refined metal, and the prizes on Saturdays on Sundays are a random hat!

Also each week, the three players who earn the most server starting credits for that week will earn a prize of one Mann Co. Key each.

Admins may give away other prizes at their sole discretion. |N| Koans has said that he may give away Steam games to those who start #05 on their own initiative.

Eligible Servers for the Contests

Copy-and-paste these commands into your TF2 console to jump straight to the server. Don’t forget to favorite them for later!

2. Stats Reset June 1st

The HLStatsX software, which counts server-side points and ranks users, will be reset on all servers on June 1st. Everyone will be reset to the base 1,000 points. This coincides with the latest TF2Newbs contest.

3. LMAOBOX Hack Users Banned By VAC

We’re all tired of having servers quickly empty when some jerk enters with an obvious hack: a whirlwindy-stormy audio, headshotting, shooting through walls, and running around indestructibly. The admins of TF2Newbs ban these hackers, a thankless, sometimes time-consuming task. And now, we can rejoice, as one of the worst scourges of the virtual world (especially Valve servers!) is now effectively blocked by Valve’s VAC system.

PC Gamer reports that the LMAOBOX cheat is now detectable by VAC, Valve’s Anti-Cheat system, causing current and recent users to be permanently VAC-banned (meaning they can’t play on any Valve-owned server of any Valve game on that account). Such users are typically unwelcome on TF2Newbs’ servers also. Heck, the cheat has been so pervasive that spamming chatabout the use of such a cheat is a bannable offense on Newbs’ servers, Skial, and other TF2 communities.

You should never use this hack, especially since the recently publicized source code has been found to be riddled with malware. Friends don’t let friends use LMAOBOX.

4. Got Overwatch?

It comes out Tuesday, May 24th, and it may just be the next coming of Team Fortress 2. We’re discussing it on the forums.

What is Overwatch? It’s a first-person shooter with character classes and short-term objectives, much like Team Fortress 2. Overwatch is by Blizzard, the creators the Diablo, StarCraft, and WarCraft franchises. Overwatch isn’t available on Steam, and is exclusive to Battle.Net, which is Blizzard’s proprietary gaming service. Nor is it free-to-play; the standard retail price of the game is US$59.99.

Overwatch is also a creative license, with digital comics and animated shorts–gee, also like TF2! Here’s a YouTube demo of some of the classes.

5. Terraria Patch 1.3.1 is Now Live!

Click here for the full patch notes. Gamepedia is very buggy, so here’s a summary of the PC version update:

Lots of upgrades to the wiring system, including wiring gates (AND, NOR, XAND, etc.), actuators, tools that can remotely and wirelessly trip actuators, and more.

Lots of new statues added, including many of the mobs/monsters in the game, that can be attached to wires to spawn their respective mobs.

Controller support for PC version.

Terraria, the 2D Minecraft-like digging and crafting game that just hit its 5th birthday, got its first patch since its mega-patch last August. Since modders continue to experiment with Terraria’s limits, developer ReDigit continues to apply patches that help with specific objectives. In this case, a logic system has been implemented in the wiring system to allow, for instance, a door to open only if two switches are both opened, for traps to be affixed to walls and ceilings, and to have remote controls and projectile-triggered buttons to trip your wired masterpieces. Geeky stuff to be sure, kind of like those mana farmers in the Minecraft modding community.

Terraria is an action game for US$9.99 with cute visuals and a robust crafting system, worth the price even when it’s not on sale…

6. Steam Summer Sale 2016 is Soon!

Speaking of sales, numerous reports link a source that seems to confirm that the twice-a-year Steam sale will occur at the end of June [June 23rd to July 4th, to be specific]. This is a good time to buy games, as most games sold by Steam go on sale at some point during the bonanza, often from 33% to 75% off. Terraria for $2.49 (75% off) is common, and any game that is at least a year old is often found for 50% off. Flash sales of perhaps twelve-hour duration feature the best sales, so users check in frequently for the favorite games.